Playing at the Park

I can't deny it anymore. Eli is no longer a baby. He is a walking, babbling, adventerous little boy who had a great time at the park today.
He loved playing with the wood chips. He wasn't so sure about wearing that pesky hat - but the sun was so strong that I wanted to protect his fair head.
He had the best time over at this sand table, where he lifted and dropped sand into a bowl over and over and over again...

Yes, I took a ton of pictures. It's still a novelty to me that my little boy can now play (mostly) independently at the park. He is so much fun.

Aarah and Eli on a Warm Summer Night

This was taken at a get-together last weekend. You may not be able to see it on the small version of this picture, but Eli and I both have a nice shiny glow from the high, high humidity that day. It was stormy that afternoon and the bugs were out to get me... I have so many pesky mosquito bites from that night! I love Chicago in the summer though - everything is lush and green and you almost forget how miserable the last 8 months of winter were :)

(A friend emailed this picture to me, and I thought it would be fun to post since I am usually the one taking the pictures.)

How to Eat a Watermelon

Here are some shots of Eli eating watermelon and cheese at dinner tonight. Doesn't that sound appetizing? Eli was really stuffing his cheeks full of food. He liked it a lot, especially the watermelon.
My favorite part of this was that with each piece of watermelon, he would squeeze it tight so the juice would drip out and then stuff it in his mouth. Silly boy! He was really sticky by the end of dinner...

Boy in Blue

I snapped some pictures of Eli early this morning as we were playing with his toys. Last night he slept in this blue onesie because it was once again oh-so-humid... someday I vow to live in a place with central air conditioning! Thankfully it's cooled off some after a big rain this afternoon and we're all more comfortable.

In our effort to de-clutter, we cleaned out the items in the cabinet that serves as our entertainment center, and now we can throw most of Eli's toys in there. It's great, except for when Eli decides to pull everything out... :)

Eli really loves Bob the sheep. Bob is hard to clean, however, so he doesn't sleep with him. Instead, he gives the sheep loves multiple times a day when he is playing with toys.

Pictures above and below show Eli playing with an empty milk jug that he found in the kitchen, waiting to go out to the recycling bin. He tried hiding the jug behind the Leapfrog table without much success, so he opted to just carry it around our condo instead.

Ben and I love watching Eli walk - he kind of waddles side to side with very heavy feet. If he weighed more, I bet his steps would be pretty loud. I'll try to get a video clip sometime soon to capture this cuteness! Seeing these pictures of our boy in blue makes me want to reach over and squeeze those chubby legs of his... :)